By Tai Wei Lim

Political Leadership in East Asia

Leadership in East Asia is closely shaped
by the political system and ideological doctrine of the state. Some have
conceptualized the role of morality (e.g. anti-corruption campaigns) in
political leadership legitimacy as the dawn of the “sage kings.” Strongmen are
given authoritarian rule over the land in exchange for political legitimacy
garnered through a clean and non-corrupt record (perception or otherwise).

Political succession is also handled
gently in East Asia. It may be an outcome of factional compromises, as in the
case of habatsu factional politics in
Japan; or the pre-eminence of one leader over others, as in the case of the “core
leadership” of Chinese President Xi Jinping; or the anti-nepotism,
anti-corruption, and anti-cronyism politics of Confucianist South Korea. In the
case of China’s recently-concluded 19th Party Congress, international
journalists even counted the number of times elite delegates looked at their
watches and monitored the decibel levels of clapping. Every little detail in the
major events of political succession are scrutinized. Many leadership
transition events are also scripted with events carefully negotiated behind the
scene before public announcements.

Loyalty is an element that is prevalent
throughout all leadership transitions. This was especially apparent in Beijing’s
criteria for the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
the selection of candidates for Politburo membership, including the Standing
Committee, in China; and the habatsu rallying around their leaders in Japanese politics. Leadership succession is
carefully crafted in order not to damage the legacies of former leaders, ensure
a smooth transition, and to maximize face-saving exit spaces for retiring
leaders. Beijing also expects loyalty, patriotism and love of the motherland
from its Hong Kong counterpart.

Related to loyalty is the idea of
collectivism. Japan is emblematic of collective leadership held by factional habatsus. The interests of factions come
before self. Therefore, the Prime Minister, as first amongst equals, helps to
consolidate the interests of different factions within his own party to stay as
leader of the party and to get the party’s endorsement to be their candidate
for the Prime Ministership. In China, while President Xi is the “core leader,”
he maintains non-confrontational relationships with his predecessors — former
Presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao — and incorporates some of their factional
members in the Politburo while maintaining strong and unambiguous dominance
over the political system as the core leader. Unlike China, Vietnam continues
to maintain a collective leadership to a greater extent, sharing power between
major factions.

Similarly, related to both elements of
loyalty as well as collectivism, East Asian leadership maintains a reverence
for senior former leaders. Japanese veteran party leaders are treated as genro or elders who are often consulted
on important decisions by the Prime Minister. In China, former Presidents are
still publicly respected with their political thoughts retained in manifestos and
written into the annals of the Communist Party’s official records. In South Korea,
President Moon Jae-in was a protege of former President Roh Moo-hyun and remains true to the pacifist,
liberal, and left-leaning causes of his senior.

The qualities listed above are
gender-neutral. Japanese female politicians exhibit the same qualities as their
male counterparts. Former Defense Minister Tomomi Inada for example was a
strong right-leaning politician who shared the same ideas as her Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe on foreign policy, the constitution, and domestic issues. On the
other hand, former opposition leader Renho was consistent with her political
constituency in liberal policies and ideas, and her opposition party was drawn
into a pseudo-alliance with the Japanese Communist Party. In terms of
leadership trends, we are quite likely to witness the rise of more women in
East Asian politics. South Korea already had a former female Prime Minister and
a female President, and at this point of writing, its first female Foreign
Minister.

Carrie
Lam’s background as a working-class person resonated with the Hong Kong public,
who are grappling with issues like expensive housing prices and the cost of
living.

Another important criterion is
identification with the working folk in East Asian societies. In China, President
Xi tries to connect with the common folk through crafted images, for example,
by eating dumpling buns at roadside stores and instituting his anti-corruption
campaign to weed out corrupt elite party and government officials. In South Korea,
President Moon came into power as a graft buster, putting the South Korean house
into order by managing the dynastically-oriented chaebols and maintaining his rags-to-riches image of a working-class
son of North Korean refugee immigrants.

Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, also experienced the same kind of working-class
childhood — having had no study desk in her childhood room but obtained entry
into the prestigious Hong Kong University and then rose through the ranks to
become an elite administrative officer in the Hong Kong Civil Service.
Eventually, she became chief secretary to the Chief Executive and is now the
leader of Hong Kong. Lam’s background as a working-class person resonated with
the public, who are grappling with issues like expensive housing prices and the
cost of living.

Personal ties between charismatic and
strong leaders have also emerged as a feature of major power relations in East
Asia. The mass media (both domestic and international) often cover bilateral
meetings between top East Asian leaders, or with their US counterparts, with
exceptional attention and exposure time. They analyze every single diplomatic
protocol detail, note how their leaders were treated in bilateral leadership
summits, and feted in state dinners. Every little detail is noticed — how much
US President Donald Trump fed the koi at Akasaka Palace, his facial expressions
when watching Peking opera, and US First Lady Melania Trump’s Gucci qipao outfit at the state dinner.

Regional leadership also seems to be
predicated on championing free trade in the region. Beijing has instituted its Belt
and Road Initiative as well as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Japan,
Australia, and New Zealand are differentially trying to revive the Trans
Pacific Partnership (TPP) without the US. South Korea is supportive of both the
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership spearheaded by Beijing and the TPP
initiative which was formerly spearheaded by the US Obama administration.

Regional leadership also appears to be
predicated on avoidance of conflict and face-saving diplomatic gestures to
defuse tensions. Beijing and Tokyo have been playing a cat and mouse game over
the East China Sea with Chinese warships entering exclusive economic zones and
then leaving when Japanese coastguards arrive before entering again. Both sides
show incredible wisdom and self-restraint in avoiding conflict and mostly
deploying their coast guards instead of naval assets. In recent times, this
issue has remained quiet.

In the same way, Filipino President
Rodrigo Duterte’s policy towards China has defused tensions with Beijing and,
using personal diplomacy and a charm offensive, both sides have become quite
effective economic partners. South Korea defused tensions with Beijing when
President Moon suspended the deployment of a second Terminal High Altitude Air
Defence (THAAD) System in favor of better relations with Beijing, and Beijing
responded by standing down on boycotts against Korean supermarkets like Lotte as
well as Korean popular culture (K-pop).

Finally, soft power is often the neglected
aspect of power and leadership in East Asia. In this aspect, as the first
country to modernize and Westernize, Japan has a long history of soft power
through its popular culture. The anime, comics (manga) and games (ACG) industries
form the basis of Japan’s soft power. Japan’s exports of its popular culture
like J-pop and ACG products have influenced consumption, how regional societies
view Japan, and also boosted the number of individuals picking up interest in
learning about Japan and its language and culture.